Almost 6 month old 20min naps if alone

[Jellybabie3]

Any suggestions how to lengthen DS naps. He has just started being put down for naps alone. All previous naps were on me.

I do the same routine as bedtime. Fed, put into bed in sleeping bag with white noise in dark room and patted abit. With alot of grunting he will go to sleep... Trouble is he wakes after 20mins. If on me I get a good hour. I've tried resettling after the 20mins but hes done. Is this just a persistence (as in over days) thing?

He is still waking 5 times a night and wants to feed but is accepting more and more a pat to sleep (no longer wants to feed to sleep by his own accord).

i should say hes just had a nasty reflux flare so has been grunting through the night alot. Hes on a higher dose of ranitidine which we hope will kick in soon.

Should i just try once a day? Worried hes gonna get overtired....

Waves to Jelly in a knowing and sleep deprived way.
Yep. This. DS finally will sleep on the bed if I feed him to sleep there but will only sleep for a really short amount of time and then won't resettle. How do people have these babies that sleep 7-7 and go for a nap when they're put in their cot!? What are they doing that we're not?

Hmm. He will go to sleep but wakes really soon....i thought this was an improvement. Heck.

You could try white noise (you can get free apps)? Some babies like it. Napping without you is probably a lot quieter than napping on you.

Could you stay by the cot and start patting as soon as he stirs? Hopefully a few days of that and he might stay asleep without you.

DD1 was like this. She napped on me until she was about 15 months old... Or in the car, or in the buggy. It was frustrating, but eventually I just got used to having a couple of hours netflixing every afternoon. Try and enjoy it, it's much more pleasant than both of you getting upset.

Yeah i used white noise and did pat when stirring but he just started smiling lol. Will keep trying thanks

Good luck for tonigh @Jellybabie3. How has your day been?
Mines been pretty tough, had a few tears earlier because I felt so stressed even though there's nothing I can really do about it all. I feel like this happens every month or so and then I feel better (until next month!). I'm also v achey today from sleeping badly due to DS sleeping in with me last night. I love him so so much and he's such a happy little baby and really easy to look after in the day but the lack of sleep is just awful.

My DD was like this until she started sleeping in her own bed at night. After a month of that I just started to put her down about 2 hours after morning waking. She used to carry on with the 30 minute naps but eventually she has started doing approx. 1.5 hours for a morning and afternoon. There is still days when she wakes up after half an hour.

Can you get into a routine with putting him down at certain times as my DD May sometimes roll about now and chat but will go to sleep within 30 minutes. Most of the time now she will go to sleep within 5 minutes at each sleep be it nap or night time. She is really enjoying her sleep now and I was very worried a few months ago that this would never happen.

I think also we had a few times where she cried for 5 minutes but not a screaming cry so I was able to leave her and she settled her self. I'm doing all this for the first time so I have no idea what I'm doing to be fair!

So.....a little update. Hes now being put down for naps 3 x a day (Hes ratty after 2/2.5 hours still). I feed him laid down on the bed until hes comfort sucking then pick him up an place him in his next to me cot (in sleepyhead) he grizzles or cries a little so i shush and pat til he goes to sleep. He wakes after 30-40 mins every time. I try and shush pat back to sleep but its yet to work. All that works is to get him back out and repeat the process - feed, down, pat. Will he eventually learn to sleep longer?

At night I do the same. He still wakes 3-5 times except last night when he was awake all night

Mine never learnt to sleep longer alone for naps .
By 12 months she was down to one 30 minute nap and at 18 months started dropping them all together

Hmm OK i did wonder if its all he needed but he wakes up cranky and crying. I try tor resettle but I'm not having much luck. Seems cranky for the day then. Last night he woke every hour. May be teething though

Just hold him if it works and makes him happy in the day .
It's really not a bad habit .
Just because they need holding in the day doesn't mean they won't sleep well in a cot at night .

Hey @Jellybabie3 how are you getting on with LOs sleep?

Hi @GimbleInTheWabe. Hes loads better thanks! He just turned a corner and has accepted going to nap alone. He takes a few cuddles (like pupd without the crying) but he gets there. At night I have now tried to settle him before automatically feeding him so last night he had 3 feeds between 7pm and 8am and maybe 3 cuddles inbetween and straight down. Vast improvement i think. We are definately waking him by shuffling/rolling over etc so hes been napping in his nursery past couple of days and all going well he will be in there at night soon

Hows yours going? Any better your end?

Glad to hear things have improved for you @Jellybabie3! Especially with the cuddle soothers in the night, makes such s difference. We started a sleep training thing with DS last night called the sleep wave, it's basically controlled crying but you go in every 5 mins. It wasn't nice hearing him cry but when he settled down and slept (after about 20 mins) he slept. The. Whole. Night. Through. 7:30pm-7am! I couldn't believe it!! He also napped today for 1hr 30 mins in one go and he'd only done 40 minute naps for the past month or so, so that was a big improvement. I think 6 months is such s milestone age in their development, it's all seems so much more manageable now.

This was my twins. I constantly wondered what I was doing wrong. Then they dropped to 1 nap by 10 months. Then no naps by 12 months. Constantly wondered what I was doing wrong.

About 14 months they just decided they would happily sleep for 2 hours after lunch, in their cots, no rocking, just a bottle and a sleeping bag. Around 15 months they dropped night time wake ups to 1 or 2. They’re now 18 months, still having a decent nap in their cot. At bed time I put a projector on, hand them a bottle and they go to sleep 9 times out of 10. They wake up once about 10pm, I give them water and they sleep til about 7am.

Honestly, I questioned everything I was doing every day but eventually they just got it, and your baby will too.

@GimbleInTheWabe oh my. In one try?? Thats crazy!! Hope it carries on for you may come to you for tips soon

Have you seen the Weighted Glove technique?

Fill a woolly glove with rice, and pat your baby, when baby has settled, leave the glove on his side, actually touching him. Baby thinks you have your hand on him and so sleeps.

I never used this, I saw it online somewhere (probably Facebook) and thought it looked good for babies that don’t want to be alone.

Oh obviously seal the glove once you filled it.

Yes he slept with no wake ups the first night/try @Jellybabie3. He stirred and cried out once during the night but settled back down straight away. I was . Tonight he cried for 15 mins (he was v tired though as he'd been awake since 3:30) and hasn't woken up again since... yet! It's from the book 'The Happy Sleeper'. I can screenshot you the relevant pages if you like, think I bought it for about 4 quid on amazon kindle though I read it during the night feeds.

You def need to feel ready to do it, hearing him cry is not nice as he's a really happy baby and v rarely cries but I felt like DS was ready for it too. His feed to sleep association was so strong but I could tell he just wanted to settle. And DP was fully supportive and did the technique with me too which helped.

I love the sound of the rice glove @TheJoyOfSox. Knowing my DS he'd find a way to gnaw on it and end up with a mouth full of rice!